Meredith suspect 'did cartwheels'

12 April 2012

Italian investigators told the Meredith Kercher murder trial that Amanda Knox did cartwheels in the police station where she was taken for questioning.

A court in Perugia, in central Italy, heard testimony from detectives who inspected the apartment where 21-year-old student Meredith, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was found stabbed to death on November 2, 2007.

Miss Kercher's roommate Amanda Knox, and Knox's Italian former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, are charged with murder and sexual violence.

Domenico Giacinto Profazio, the former head of the Perugia flying squad, reconstructed the probe that led to the arrest of the two defendants as well as a third suspect, Ivory Coast national Rudy Hermann Guede. Guede was sentenced to 30 years in jail last year in a fast-track trial he had requested. All three deny wrongdoing.

Mr Profazio said Knox and Sollecito had a "strange attitude" when they were brought to the police station for questioning following the discovery of Miss Kercher's body. He said that on one occasion Knox sat on Sollecito's lap. "I told them it was not appropriate," Mr Profazio said.

He also recalled other officers reporting that Knox was doing cartwheels and splits in the police station.

He also listed DNA evidence that prosecutors say points to Knox and Sollecito.

Prosecutors allege that Knox's DNA was found on the handle of a knife that might have been used in the killing, and the victim's DNA was found on the blade. The knife was found at Sollecito's house.

They also allege that Sollecito's DNA was found on the victim's bra, although his defence team said the bra bore multiple DNA traces and maintain the evidence might have been inadvertently contaminated during the investigation.

Prosecutors claim that Miss Kercher was killed during what began as a sex game, with Sollecito holding her by the shoulders from behind while Knox touched her with the point of a knife. They allege that Guede tried to sexually assault Kercher and then Knox fatally stabbed her in the throat.

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